“It’s a great challenge,” Jacque Vaughn said after the Magic completed their shootaround today.

“Indiana’s a great ballclub. They’ll be in the thick of things again this year, a good challenge for us to match or see how we are against their physicality.”

Hibbert is nowhere near as physical a center as Howard, but in this era’s thin group of centers, Hibbert is one of the better players at the position.

This preseason, Vucevic has impressed with his offensive skills around the basket, while Ayón has passed the ball well and shown some grit.

The questions I have about both players is how effective they’ll be rebounding the ball and how effective they’ll be defending against capable opponents.

Vucevic is averaging 7.3 rebounds per game in 18.0 minutes per game. Ayón is averaging 7.3 rebounds per game in 27.3 minutes per game.

“With him [Hibbert], you really have to box out, because if the ball bounces high, he’s getting that,” Vucevic said. “He also has a long reach. He has long arms. So it’s a difficult matchup for anybody, because you’ve really got box him out and keep him as far as you can from the paint.”

I asked Vucevic what he feels he’s shown his coaches so far this preseason.

“I think mostly that I can rebound, that I can be a presence inside and outside,” he said.

“Those are the same questions that people had about me coming into this year. I think that I’ve shown I can rebound. Inside, when I roll [off a pick-and-roll], I’ve got good hands and can catch the ball and finish and make plays for others. I’m just trying to do whatever they ask me to do, which is play hard mostly.”

It's comes to no surprise to residents of the commonwealth that Virginia is growing. Like many fast-growing Southern states, Virginians appear to love sprawled-out cities and suburbs, according to recent 2014 U.S. Census estimates.

The last 11 months have been difficult for Anthony and Eldrie Scott, with every holiday or milestone bringing another reminder. They had lost their only child, something they pray no other parent has to experience.